Conference Season Ramps Up: Key Insights on Consumer Strength, Tariffs, and the AI Revolution

September 3, 2025 |

Author: Christine Short

Executives and analysts have returned from August holiday, and conference season is already back in full swing. Hotel ballrooms are at capacity starting immediately after Labor Day through mid-November. It's a critical moment, too. The street is anxious to hear the latest developments on several fronts, including the strength of the consumer, the hit from tariffs, and AI's latest developments.

By many accounts, the back-to-school shopping season was solid, despite many low- to middle-income households feeling pinched. A recent Wall Street Journal article profiled the split among income cohorts, noting solid sentiment among the $100,000-plus income crowd, but weaker confidence for lower-income groups.¹

Much hinges on consumption from the wealthy, though, as they command a high share of overall US spending. Recall that the July Retail Sales report's "core control" category came in better than expected, thanks to household and business resilience amid the new tariff regime.² Also note that President Trump's One Big, Beautiful Bill, which extends current tax rates and offers investment incentives to businesses, was signed into law on the Fourth of July.

New, higher tariff rates took effect on August 7, however. Trump's so-called "reciprocal" duties are significantly above the previous rates for many companies. As a reminder, the textbook asserts importers ultimately pay the tariffs, not opposing nations. Goldman Sachs put out a research piece noting that through June, consumers paid just 22% of the levies, with 64% of the ultimate tariff cost being borne by US businesses (with foreign exporters covering the remaining 14%).³ Eventually, according to Goldman, US consumers will absorb two-thirds of the tariff hit. It's a story we've shared before, and now we'll all get to hear how companies are handling the new trade regime.

As for AI, it appears to be full steam ahead. The second-quarter earnings season was gangbusters. The big capex hyperscalers (Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Oracle) confirmed major investment plans over the ensuing quarters and years. Then, just last week, NVIDIA beat top- and bottom-line estimates. The world's most valuable public company tallied a record $41.1 billion of data center revenue, with CEO Jensen Huang sounding upbeat on the Q2 conference call.⁴ Shares held near all-time highs, above $180, following the report.

This conference season, we'll get to hear more details from AI users, not just the picks-and-shovels chipmakers. There has been speculation that few companies are actually benefiting from AI adoption, as indicated by a report from MIT, which found that 95% of the organizations studied received zero return on their AI investment.⁵ Is AI's push coming to shove? We might find out soon.

These issues, along with drama at the Federal Reserve, rising long-term global interest rates, a softening US jobs market, and geopolitical tensions, confront CEOs and CIOs daily. Here are the major conferences on the docket this week and over the balance of September. It's an action-packed slate:

Information Technology & Communication Services

September 2: Barclays Media and Telecom Forum
September 3: Needham Transportation Technology Industry Leaders 1x1 Conference
September 3: Bank of America Media, Communications & Entertainment Conference
September 3: Citi Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications TMT Conference
September 4: Needham 5th Annual Virtual Crypto Conference (virtual)
September 4: JP Morgan Rising Tech Leaders Forum
September 8: Goldman Sachs Communacopia Technology Conference
September 9: BMO Capital Markets 26th Annual Media & Telecom Conference
September 10: Wolfe Research TMT Conference
September 30: Evercore ISI Autonomous, ADAS & AI Forum

Health Care

September 2: CITI Biopharma Back to School Conference
September 3: Wells Fargo Healthcare Conference
September 3: Cantor Fitzgerald Global Healthcare Conference
September 8: Morgan Stanley 23rd Annual Global Healthcare Conference
September 9: Baird Global Healthcare Conference
September 10: Deutsche Bank Healthcare Summit
September 23: Bank of America Global Healthcare Conference
September 23: Bernstein 2nd Annual Healthcare Forum
September 29: Jefferies Healthcare Services Conference

Consumer Discretionary & Consumer Staples

September 2: Barclays Global Consumer Staples Conference
September 3: Goldman Sachs 32nd Annual Global Retailing Conference
September 4: Bank of America Gaming and Lodging Conference
September 8: UBS Luxury Conference
September 16: Wells Fargo 8th Annual Consumer Conference

Financials & Real Estate

September 3: KBW Insurance Conference
September 3: Barclays 10th Annual Credit Bureau Forum (virtual)
September 3: Jefferies Fintech Conference
September 7: Barclays 23rd Global Financial Services Conference
September 9: Bank of America Global Real Estate Conference
September 10: UBS Fintech Conference
September 15: Goldman Sachs Real Estate Equity and Debt Conference
September 15: Bank of America Securities 30th Annual Financials CEO Conference
September 25: Oppenheimer Insurance Summit (virtual)
September 30: Mizuho REIT Conference

Industrials

September 2: Morgan Stanley Industrial CEOs Unplugged
September 2: Deutsche Bank 15th Annual Aviation Forum
September 3: Jefferies Industrials Conference
September 16: RBC Capital Markets Global Industrials Conference

Energy & Utilities

September 2: TD Securities Nuclear & Uranium Conference
September 2: Barclays 39th Annual CEO Energy-Power Conference
September 8: ROTH 12th Annual Solar & Storage Symposium
September 18: NYSE Energy & Utilities Investor Access Day
September 30: Wolfe Research Utilities, Midstream & Clean Energy Conference

Materials

September 9: Berenberg Food Ingredients & Chemicals Conference
September 9: Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek
September 14: Gold Forum Americas
September 26: Metals Investor Forum

Regional

September 3: Deutsche Bank dbAccess European TMT Conference
September 3: UBS BB Global Emerging Markets One-on-One Conference
September 3: UBS Global Materials Conference
September 3: Goldman Sachs Asia Leaders Conference
September 3: Goldman Sachs 22nd Annual European Medtech and Healthcare Services Conference
September 4: Citi Global GEMS Conference
September 8: Bank of America Securities Asia Pacific Conference
September 16: Goldman Sachs European Communacopia Conference, London
September 24: Citi's China Industrial, SMID, Transport Conference

Investor Specific & Multi-Sector

September 3: JP Morgan - CEO Call series
September 4: Piper Sandler 11th Annual Macro Conference
September 4: TD Cowen Technology Growth Cap Summit
September 10: Morgan Stanley 13th Annual Laguna Conference
September 16: JP Morgan 16th Annual U.S. All Stars Conference
September 17: Sidoti September Small Cap Conference

1 The Middle-Class Vibe Has Shifted From Secure to Squeezed, The Wall Street Journal, Katherine Hamilton, Alison Sider, August 31, 2025, https://www.wsj.com
2 Treasury yields rise after latest retail sales and sentiment data, CNBC, Lia Hailai Han, Sawdah Bhaimiya, August 15, 2025, https://www.cnbc.com
3 Goldman Sachs doubles down on tariff research that infuriated Trump, saying average Americans will bear two-thirds of the costs, Fortune, Nick Lichtenberg, August 13, 2025, https://finance.yahoo.com
4 NVDA Q2 2026 Earnings, LiveSquawk, August 27, 2025, https://x.com/LiveSquawk
5 MIT study on AI profits rattles tech investors, Axios, Madison Mills, August 21, 2025, https://www.axios.com

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